Leliana (Dragon Age)/History
Leliana's Song In Marjolaine’s company, Leliana met Tug and Sketch, and traveled with the pair across Thedas. Leliana’s enjoyment of the freedom of these days dovetailed Marjolaine’s increasing fear of her student’s growing skill and potential to strike at her. .]] In 9:28 Dragon, Marjolaine and Leliana, along with Tug and Sketch, arrive on a secret mission to Denerim. Marjolaine gives Leliana different assignments to carry out, which she completes with ease and signals Marjolaine to let her know that her tasks were complete. Afterwards, Marjolaine informs Leliana that she had another assignment: to plant incriminating documents at the Arl of Denerim’s Estate. Leliana infiltrates the estate along with Tug and Sketch, witnesses Marjolaine flirt with Commander Harwen Raleigh, and plants the documents in the master’s bedroom. Her curiosity got the better of her, however, and upon taking a closer look at the documents, discovered that they bear the seals of the Orlesian military. Upon returning to their hideout, Leliana confronts Marjolaine about this apparent treason and her mentor agrees to go back to the estate and retrieve the documents. The alarm was raised, however and Leliana is forced to fight her way out. Upon escaping, Marjolaine took advantage of her lover’s infatuation and betrayed Leliana and her companions, stabbing her lover and leaving them to the mercy of Raleigh’s guards and had the trio framed, arrested and abused. Utterly broken, Leliana almost gives in to despair when an unseen benefactor provides her with the means to escape from her cell. She eventually finds and freed Sketch but discovers that Tug had been tortured to death; another prisoner they free is a Fereldan named Silas Corthwaite, who decides to accompany them to seek revenge against Raleigh. After escaping, the band is brought to Lothering by Leliana’s benefactor, who reveals herself as an Orlesian Revered Mother named Dorothea and uncovered the full extent of Marjolaine’s treachery: Dorothea explains that Marjolaine’s documents were stolen from her and asks Leliana to retrieve them. Leliana and her companions pursue Marjolaine and Raleigh and finally corner them at the cost. After neutralizing Raleigh, Leliana once again confronts Marjolaine, but does not kill her. Marked as a traitor, Leliana flees Orlais and returns the documents to Dorothea. Upon securing a new, if uncertain life, Leliana found purpose in the Chantry and Dorothea’s calm advice. In memory of Tug, who perished during their arrest, Leliana toasts his memory every year with Antivan plum brandy, pouring some out as well and intoning "Atrast tunsha, salroka." Her relationship with Sketch remains rocky due to Leliana’s embellishment of the past, though she seeks his aid to translate messages let by Tug in dwarven. Ultimately, Leliana crosses the border into Ferelden and eventually ending up in the village of Lothering. To atone for her sins and to hide from Marjolaine, Leliana joins the Chantry there as a lay sister, becoming intensely religious. There, her confession of a vision from the Maker, and discovery of an impossible white rose on a dead bush in Lothering, both made her an outcast and spurred Leliana’s passion to aid Lord Aedan Cousland in thwarting the Fifth Blight. None could shake her determination to stop this evil and bring hope to the world. ''Dragon Age: Origins Leliana first encounters Aedan Cousland at the Dane’s Refuge, a tavern in Lothering. When he is set upon by soldiers loyal to Teyrn Loghain Mac Tir, Leliana assists him in the skirmish. When the combat is over, she explains her interest in joining his party and mentions her vision. Despite the Chantry’s claim that the Maker does not communicate directly with individuals, Leliana is firm in her belief. This causes Alistair to suspect she is mentally unstable, while Morrigan also doubted her sanity. To her great delight, Leliana is accepted into the Warden’s party and sets out with them from Lothering, having previously obtained permission from her Revered Mother to do so. .]] Over the course of the journey, Leliana grew close to Aedan and developed feelings for him. She confesses her love for him and the two began a romantic relationship. Urn of Sacred Ashes During the quest to recover the fabled Urn of Sacred Ashes of Andraste, the Guardian of the Ashes states that the Maker only ever spoke to one mortal: Andraste, and accuses Leliana of inventing her vision. He proposes that she fabricated the tale for attention as she feared her life would become dull in the Chantry when compared to the thrill of a bard’s life. Affronted, Leliana makes a flustered denial of the Guardian’s accusation. Leliana's Past Following much discussion with Aedan of her life as a bard, Marjolaine sends assassins to murder Leliana. Upon defeat, the assassins reveal that Marjolaine is in Denerim. Leliana and the Warden thus set out to find her former mentor. After breaking into her house and killing her guards, Leliana confronts Marjolaine. Knowing that if she was spared, Marjolaine would continue to pursue her for the rest of her days, Leliana kills her old lover, encouraged by Aedan to do so. Epilogue Leliana is later present at the coronation of King Alistair and Queen Anora as the new monarchs of Ferelden following the death of the archdemon Urthemiel and the end of the Blight. Soon afterwards, Leliana accepted Aedan’s marriage proposal after learning she was pregnant. In preparation for the wedding, Aedan accompanied Leliana to the Valence Chantry in Orlais, where she introduced him to her old friend Dorothea. Six months later, the official wedding ceremony took place in Valence with many of their friends in attendance, including King Alistair. For their honeymoon, they spent three weeks in the city of Jader. Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening Leliana sends a love letter to her husband during his assignment as the new Warden-Commander of Ferelden, wishing him luck in eradicating the darkspawn threat in Amaranthine which reads: Following the conclusion of the Amaranthine Conflict, some rumors state that Aedan was spotted in Denerim with his love and never again returned to Vigil’s Keep. Interim Period Motherhood At some point afterwards, Leliana gave birth to her son Adrien. Divinity Election .]] One month after the defeat of Corypheus, Leliana was chosen by the College of Clerics in 9:42 to succeed Justinia as the new Divine, taking the name of Victoria. At age 36, Leliana is the second youngest Divine in history and the third to be elected outside the traditional Chantry hierarchy. This was an unprecedented bestowment: the first was Galatea, a commoner who reigned during the late Glory Age 659 years earlier; the second was Amara III in 5:71 Exalted, sister to the Orlesian Emperor Alphonse Valmont who never attained the rank of Revered Mother. After grooming Charter, Rector, and Lace Harding as her successors, Leliana stepped down from her role as the Inquisition's spymaster in favor of her most trusted agents and moved to her official apartments in the Grand Cathedral to prepare for her coronation. Teachings Early issues Being controversial from the start, one of Leliana's controversial acts as Divine Victoria was officially disbanding the Circle of Magi and allows mages to rule their own lives, admitting non-humans into the Chantry priesthood, allying with the Inquisition and adhering to the principle of service to others. Several new sects arose, resisting her reforms and declaring her rule a threat to the faith. Responding to the crisis, Leliana met with their leaders, encouraging unity. Miraculously her words take root, and – for now – the Chantry remained strong. Love and priestly celibacy It has been speculated that Leliana continued her relationship with Aedan, even after being elected Divine. Rumors of their romance soon became a subject for courtly songs. Leliana officially confirms that she and her husband are still together, as he was frequently seen at her side. When asked, she comments that they make time to meet up as much as possible. While some find their openly acknowledged relationship "inappropriate," Leliana maintains that love finds a way, and mentioned that Andraste herself served the Maker while wed to a mortal spouse. Eventually, Divine Victoria decreed that all Chantry personnel, from initiate to Divine, would be allowed to engage in romantic relationships and, if desired, to marry. In time, many in the Chantry came to accept the Divine’s decree that "Love is the Maker’s best gift and is infinite" despite opposition. Ordination of non-humans and men In 9:45, Leliana institutes further reforms by removing restrictions surrounding Chantry priesthood, allowing men and women of all races to be initiated and ordained. This decree was followed swiftly by her decision to return the Canticle of Shartan to the canonical chant, a move that divided Andrastians deeply. Dragon Age II In 9:34 Dragon, Leliana answered a summons from her old friend Dorothea, who had since been elected Divine Justinia V, leader of the Chantry. Returning to Val Royeaux, Leliana agreed to become Justinia’s Left Hand and spymaster. Leliana assumed mastery over a coterie of her own agents, and once again reinvented herself and resumed the role of bard that Marjolaine trained her for. In this role, Leliana investigated rumors of a mage rebellion in Kirkwall and suspicions of Qunari activity at Chateau Haine, as well as serving Justinia’s will in attempting to quell the Mage-Templar War and a brewing elven uprising. To this day, even despite the love of her mother Oisine, the nurturing presence of Lady Cecilie and the salvation of Dorothea, Leliana understands that Marjolaine shaped her deeply, in both speech and action. As with Marjolaine, Leliana’s enemies continue to move against her, seeking out weaknesses to exploit. in Kirkwall.]] The Divine soon dispatches Leliana to Kirkwall under the pseudonym of "Sister Nightingale", in order to assess whether an Exalted March against the city would be necessary to suppress the conflict between templars and mages in the city. While tracking down a shadowy apostate group known as "Resolutionists", she encounters Garrett Hawke and Prince Sebastian Vael in the Viscount’s Keep, and asks them to convince Grand Cleric Elthina to flee Kirkwall and seek shelter in the Grand Cathedral of Val Royeaux at the Divine’s invitation. She later attends a party at Chateau Haine as a guest of Duke Propser de Montfort. During the event, she encounters Tallis, an elven Qunari agent of the Ben-Hassrath and former associate of Leliana’s. Following Cassandra Pentaghast’s interrogation of Varric Tethras in 9:40, she rendezvoused with the Seeker outside the Hawke Estate. After confirming that Cassandra was unable to locate Hawke, the two agree to return to their other plan. Dragon Age: Asunder Leliana continued to serve Divine Justinia V in seeking a solution to the ongoing conflict following the Kirkwall Rebellion. She encounters Knight-Captain Evangeline de Brassard at the ball held for the Divine and is also present when Rhys, Wynne, Pharamond and Adrien are granted an audience with Justinia upon their return from the Adamant Fortress. She physically restrains Lord Seeker Lambert van Reeves, preventing him from attacking Rhys. Leliana participates in the raid on the White Spire in order to free the captured mages, and it is her presence that reveals to Lord Seeker Lambert that Divine Justinia is conspiring against the Templar Order. She later sings at the funeral of Wynne. Dragon Age: The Masked Empire Leliana, in the capacity of the Divine’s representative, meets with Empress Celene Valmont I at the University of Orlais to discuss the continued mage-templar tensions. Although she attempts to maintain her anonymity, Celene reveals her knowledge of both Leliana and Justinia’s identities and past exploits. The empress goes on to demand that the Divine make an official statement on the mage-templar conflict within three weeks, or she will be unable to restrain the overeager nobles at her court from interfering. Leliana agrees to take this proposal to Justinia. Leliana later delivers to Celene the Divine’s price for helping to quell the conflict between mages and templars: the empress must end the elven revolt in Halamshiral. By doing so Celene would demonstrate the same control over her own affairs that she had demanded of the Divine. Given her adventures alongside elves in the past, Leliana regrets the repressive tactics employed against the elven population, but bids Celene good luck before leaving. Dragon Age: Inquisition Re-establishing the Inquisition .]] Leliana joins the Inquisition as its spymaster, and leads the clandestine division responsible for espionage and assassination. She provides an effective alternative when diplomacy or blunt force fail, collecting information, dispatching agents and scouts, and signing her letters with an ominous nightingale sigil that leaves no question of its author. She brings her old friend, the Antivan noblewoman Lady Josephine Montilyet, into the Inquisition. Grieving for the loss of her dear friend, Divine Justinia V, Leliana begins to struggle with a crisis of faith following the tragedy of the Breach. As the war council assembles, Cassandra and Leliana suggest approaching the rebel mages for help with the Breach. Cullen, however, disagrees and suggests recruiting the templars instead, fearing that pouring too much magic into Maxwell Trevelyan’s mark may destroy them all. When asked why she’s so invested in the rebel mages, Leliana reveals she supported the Divine’s plan to use the Inquisition to challenge the tenets of the Chantry so that the mages would be treated more fairly. She believes that mages deserve their freedom, in inspiring good rather than dictating it, redemption of past sins, and in radical reform for the Chantry to stamp out inequality for all races. In Hushed Whispers In an attempt to recruit the rebel mages, Leliana and her group are sent alongside Dorian Pavus to eliminate a group of Venatori and their leader, Magister Gereon Alexius, at Redcliffe Castle where the mages have made their base of operations under the guise of the Herald negotiating with Alexius. However, when Maxwell and Dorian are accidentally sent one year into the future, where the former’s absence had allowed the Elder One to conquer southern Thedas, Leliana is captured and tortured for information on how Maxwell received the mark. By 9:42 Dragon, she has also been subjected to experiments on Blight sickness and Blight resistance, presumably in order to cure Alexius’s son, Felix. As Maxwell finds her in the torture room, Leliana takes advantage of her interrogator’s distraction to snap his neck with her legs. These experiments leave her traumatized and cold towards Dorian and Maxwell. When the party confronts Alexius, Leliana murders Felix and helps to delay approaching Venatori and demon reinforcements to buy Maxwell and Dorian time to get through the time rift and stop this future from occurring. Just as Dorian manages to reopen the rift, Leliana is overpowered by her attackers and killed. Upon returning to 9:41, when he tells Leliana of her future self’s sacrifice, she states that she would do so again. Relocating to Skyhold When Maxwell takes control of the fortress of Skyhold, Leliana will spend her free time in the rookery, making it a new home. Leliana is more hardened and is willing to respond to betrayal with vicious reprisal. After the attack on Haven, she also berates herself for the sentimentality she has for her agents, believing they lost Haven because she pulled her agents back when her first lookouts went missing. Maxwell discourages her sentiment, insisting that she only protected her scouts. At any rate, she apologizes for letting her emotions get the better of her during their first conversation. In private, Leliana comments on Aedan fondly, stating that he is "always in her thoughts" and is "her love". She adds that once the Inquisition is over, she plans to join her Warden husband "for good this time" as well as mentioning that with Aedan at her side, anything was possible. Grand Masquerade Ball in Halamshiral.]] Leliana, along with Josephine and Cullen, accompanies the Inquisitor to the Winter Palace of Halamshiral during the peace talks between Empress Celene Valmont I and Grand Duke Gaspard de Chalons. There she advises Maxwell to search for the identity of Celene’s arcane advisor, who is revealed to be her former comrade Morrigan. Emotional turmoil After a spirit posing as Divine Justinia aids the Inquisitor when he goes back to the Fade to recover his missing memories, the spirit aids him in finding the truth of how he obtained the mark on his hand and also escaping the Fade once again from the Nightmare demon that serves Corypheus. The spirit once again sacrifices itself to weaken the Nightmare but not before asking Maxwell to relay a message to Leliana: "I’m sorry. I failed you, too." After Leliana inquiries about the spirit and has its message relayed to her, she responds with a solemn "oh" before composing herself and focusing on her duties. In a later conversation, she tries to make sense of Justinia’s message and the events that led to her death. She believes that it wasn’t Justinia who failed her, but she who failed Justinia. Following the siege of Adamant, Leliana fears that her love may be vulnerable to Corypheus’ sway and wants to alert him, as well as hear from him in his own mission: traveling deep into the west, beyond the power of the Blight, to find a cure for the Calling and return to her. The mission takes several hours and culminates in a letter from Aedan to Maxwell, with a private note for Leliana enclosed. His letter expresses his love and concern for her, noting in particular that in addition to her wit and skill Leliana’s greatest strength is her faith. The letter begs him to help her find the light if she is faltering. Receiving this note, Leliana is comforted to know that he "is still out there, fighting to be with her." Likewise, knowing he misses her and knowing what she has lost serves to ease Leliana’s mind after the tragedy of the Breach and losing Justinia V. Renewed faith Leliana later receives a posthumous letter from Justinia, directing her to the Chantry in Valence. She notes that Aedan accompanied her there to meet Dorothea before her ascension to Divine, and so she asks Maxwell to accompany her in case of potential trouble. Arriving at the Chantry, they are greeted by Sister Natalie. As the Inquisitor finds three hidden mechanisms that unveil a hidden box, Leliana grows suspicious of Natalie, who makes a slip of the tongue, prompting Leliana to put a knife to her throat. She deduces that Natalie was sent by Grand Cleric Victoire, who had secretly disparaged Justinia and is anti-Inquisition, to see what secret Justinia kept hidden. Maxwell, however, intervenes and convinces Leliana to spare Natalie’s life. Leliana then opens the box, only to find it empty, with an inscription reading, "The Left Hand should lay down her burden." Justinia was releasing her from her service because she feared she was using Leliana. At some point, it is revealed that Leliana’s pet nug Schmooples appears to have died in the intervening years, and her new pet nugs Schmooples II and Boulette are being cared for by one of her agents, Sparrow. According to a note in Leliana’s Skyhold rookery, they also helped to repel an attempt by a rival at her home, intended to discover the Nightingale’s secrets. Magekiller Sometime after Maxwell first travels to the Hissing Wastes, Leliana sends Dorian Pavus and the Bull’s Chargers mercenary company as reinforcements to Marius and Tessa Forsythia in destroying a Venatori encampment and freeing its slaves in that area. When they return to Caer Bronach, Leliana personally greets them with a new assignment from the Inquisitor. Unfortunately, by the time they arrive at Skyhold, Maxwell and his army have already departed for the Arbor Wilds. Trespasser'' Two years later in 9:44, Leliana sits on the Exalted Council representing the Chantry. Though she prefers to be called Leliana by her friends, Josephine and Cullen can’t help but address her in a formal manner such as "Your Holiness" – much to Leliana’s chagrin. Mother Giselle notes that she believes Leliana has won many allies to her cause through her intelligence and her faith. She privately converses with Maxwell as they tour the Winter Palace–during which she tells him that she can no longer appreciate its majestic beauty knowing that it was built from the suffering of the downtrodden. Lastly, Leliana discusses the fate of the Inquisition. Pointing out the fear and ire the Inquisition’s influence has drawn, Leliana advises that the Inquisition should lay down their arms and find new ways to work for the good of Thedas without the use of soldiers and spies. Regardless of what the Inquisitor decides, she tells him that she will be honored to stand beside him. Leliana and her agents such as Charter and Lace Harding continue to support the Inquisition, and though Solas continues to elude her, Leliana relays to Maxwell that she has been receiving reports of Sentinel elves being active in the Tirishan and was the first to notify the Inquisitor of a dead Qunari warrior in the Winter Palace, implicating a Qunari conspiracy and handles the removal of gaatlok barrels meant to assassinate the leaders of southern Thedas. After dealing with the Exalted Council and determining the Inquisition's fate, Leliana devotes herself fully to the Sunburst Throne, and her dream of reshaping the Chantry. A rebellion to renounce her and return the Chantry to its former state arose, beginning first in Orlais, then spreading to other parts of Thedas. Divine Victoria was resolute, holding her ground even after several unsuccessful attempts on her life. Seemingly unconcerned with the assassination attempts, she held up the hostility leveled against her as proof that she was on the right path. Category:MarkRulez711 Category:Articles by MarkRulez711